2012년 12월 31일 월요일
2012년 12월 26일 수요일
2012년 12월 24일 월요일
2012년 12월 23일 일요일
The top 4 career trends for 2013 | VentureBeat
The top 4 career trends for 2013 | VentureBeat
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/19/the-top-4-career-trends-for-2013/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/19/the-top-4-career-trends-for-2013/
2012년 12월 22일 토요일
What Is The Next Big Thing In Tech?
What is the next big thing in tech? I have no idea, but it’s fun to speculate. I like this thread
on Quora that attempts to answer this very question and you know what?
It has some pretty stellar answers. Particularly deep and insightful is
what Vankatesh Rao has to say: “Historically, there’s been a fairly good
record of people seeing “the next big thing” (NBT) a respectable
fraction of the time, so it CAN be done, without 20/20 hindsight. Here
are some successful big-thing anticipations that I am cherry-picking to
illustrate when, why and how you can predict NBTs.” On top of this, he
actually offers a few reasonable ways to identify the next big thing
before it is the next big thing. He’s got me convinced that it might
actually be somewhat feasible to predict with a decent amount of
accuracy. Anyways, here’s what a few members of the Think Tank had to
say on the matter.Wearable Technology
I
think the next big thing may very well be wearable technology such as
the Google Glass project. While dorky (yes, incredibly dorky) I think
they represent the next stage of connectedness. We already have our
phones with us at all times but it is getting inconvenient, sadly, to
take them out to interact with them. Oftentimes innovations, even tech
innovations, center around making life easier for consumers and that can
certainly mean allowing people to get lazier and lazier–but not only.
We already have some wearable tech available to consumers now such as
fitness devices (like the Nike+ FuelBand). One logical place to innovate
is the wrist watch–many companies have developed watches that integrate
with your smartphone. To get a little deeper, imagine a contact lens
that shows you the latest updates from Twitter or notifies you when you
get an email? It’s already in the works. Here’s an interesting infographic from Mashable that talks about wearable tech.Chris (@DailyTekk) is the founder/editor of DailyTekk.
The Internet of Things
The
next big shift is one we are starting to see now with the internet of
things. The main revolutions until now have been really software based
or evolution of established devices (phones, computers, PDAs/Tablets)
rather than really changing the way that people get the data that exists
in the internet. What is changing is that we no longer think about
using information on a laptop to set things in the house, rather that
thing is itself connected (e.g. Philips Hue or The Nest Thermostat).
Where this gets really exciting is when you start to think about inputs
because these devices do not have keyboards or pointers so we are having
to think more creatively about inputs. Augmented Reality is a
particularly exciting example because it allows us to move to a world
where technology in eyewear, contact lenses, or other applications we
haven’t even thought of yet are controlled not by what we input but
rather by what we show an interest in. I think this will be fundamental
revolution that changes the way we see and interact with the world
around us.Matt Mills (@mattmills), Global Head of Partnerships and Innovation Aurasma
Computers Will Do More of the Little Things for Us
Trying
to pick the next big thing is like trying to forecast the stock market –
we all think we can do it and 90% of us look like idiots in retrospect
for trying. You can’t know what’s big until it’s big. Who would have
thought touch-screen-phones/browsers would be it after the Palm and
Newton? That said, computers are getting more able every day. Some are
waiting for a breakthrough moment when they’re smarter than us – that’s
not the right way to think about it. In many ways, they’re already
smarter than us. And each year, we add more things that the computers
can do better. I think we’ll continue to rely on them for more and more –
to drive, to tell us what to eat and when, to plan our finances.http://dailytekk.com/2012/12/18/what-is-the-next-big-thing-in-tech/
Trying to make sites more trustworthy with users' personal data
 |
A new certification program aims to make websites more transparent about sharing users' personal data.
(CNN) -- There's a lack of trust between Internet users and the websites that collect their private data.
These sites aren't going
to stop gathering personal information anytime soon, but one company
hopes to make the exchange less mysterious when people sign on to a site
using a social-media profile.
Logging in to third-party
sites or commenting systems with Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google+ and
other social profiles is common -- 53% of people have done it, according
to a recent study by Gigya, which handles these social logins for major
sites such as Pepsi, CBS and Verizon. But Gigya is more interested in
the other 47% who don't use social logins and what it can do to change
their minds.
In theory, signing in to a
third-party site with an existing social-media account should make life
a bit easier. There are no forms to fill out, no new passwords and
login names to memorize. Just enter two bits of information you're
already intimately familiar with from checking Facebook or Twitter a
million times. Once logged in, you might even like how easy it is to
share content on your profile, or enjoy seeing what your friends bought,
read, listened to or watched.
In exchange for these
benefits, you give that company access to personal information telling
them who you are, such as your age, gender, location, e-mail address,
list of friends and what your interests are. That data is extremely
valuable, and is used to tailor the site or app experience to individual
visitors. People who log in with a social-network profile are better
customers. They stick around longer and are more engaged.
The holdouts who avoid
signing in with social profiles don't want to give third-parties the
keys to their personal data. They believe companies will take their
profile information and sell it, spam their friends or post to their
social networks without permission, according to the Gigya survey.
"There's a real question
of transparency and trusting, and confusion as to what's happening,"
said Gigya CEO Patrick Salyer. He believes much of it is a "perception
issue" and that increased transparency between companies and customers
would be mutually beneficial.
That's where the Gigya's new SocialPrivacy Certification program
comes in. In exchange for publicly promising to use data responsibly,
sites can sport a seal proclaiming that they are certified as
trustworthy. The companies must follow these rules: they will not sell
your data or your friends' data, spam you with e-mails, post on your
social networks or contact your friends without permission.
Gigya is training a team
of 35 employees in its client-services department to audit companies to
ensure they adhere to the criteria. The companies are vetted when they
first request certification and audited regularly after they're signed
up to make sure they're still sticking to the rules. Gigya has not
settled on a price for the certification yet. Any site can apply for the
program, and Gigya plans to develop a similar code of conduct for apps
in the future.
In theory the
certification will assuage consumers' fears, and in turn boost the usage
of social logins across the web. To increase the program's credibility,
Gigya consulted privacy experts and collaborated on the final product
with the Future of Privacy Forum, a privacy think tank in D.C. supported by companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook.
Currently there aren't
any laws regulating what sites and apps can do with your personal
information, and companies are hoping to stave off any government
regulation by taking matters into their own hands with initiatives like
SocialPrivacy Certification.
"There's no obligation
to be a good privacy citizen unless it's health or banking information,"
said Jules Polonetsky, director and co-chair of the Future of Privacy
Forum.
Facebook, Twitter and
some other networks have guidelines for developers that prohibit some of
these behaviors, including bans on selling data. But by taking it one
step further and publicly declaring it won't misuse personal data, a
site can suddenly be held accountable for any violations by a group with
a bit more power: the Federal Trade Commission.
"The FTC can sue you for
making a deceptive statement to users who relied on that when they
signed onto your site," said Polonetsky.
The SocialPrivacy
Certification program is launching with a handful or partners, including
Martha Stewart and the Toronto Globe and Mail. Until it becomes
standard across the industry, its usefulness will be limited. But as
long as people remain paranoid and hesitant to share their information,
sites that want that data will be motivated to be more transparent.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/tech/social-media/social-login-gigya/index.html
Six Tech Trends That Will Rock Enterprise IT In 2013
What follows are 2013 predictions for some of the fastest
growing next-generation technologies in enterprise IT. If 2012 seemed
like a tumultuous year, then hold on to your hats. Next year is going to
be another bumpy ride.
1. Big Data
First up is Big Data. 2013 will see companies continue to
spend much more on databases and business intelligence tools to drive
innovation and boost operational efficiency. Big Data technologies will
have the most impact in the financial industry as well as medical and
scientific research. Corporations wanting to deploy business analytics
will look to those industries for guidance.
International Data Corp. defines Big Data
as new generation "technologies and architectures, designed to
economically extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of
data by enabling high-velocity capture, discovery and/or analysis." In
2010, companies spent $3.2 billion worldwide in Big Data technology.
In 2015, Big Data spending will reach $16.9 billion,
representing a compound annual growth rate of 40% or about 7 times the
growth rate of the overall information and communications technology
market, IDC says. Because growth will outpace the supply of talent,
companies are expected to look to vendors for cloud-based services that
can offload much of the work from inside IT staff.
While software and services are expected to make up the
majority of Big Data spending, companies will be spending on
infrastructure at a faster rate. Spending on storage will grow the
fastest through 2015 with a CAGR of more than 61%, IDC says.
2. Software-Defined Networking
On the networking side, software-defined networking (SND) will enter the refinement process needed before products are ready for production use, according to Forrester.
The maturation process will take roughly five years, as SDN components
are tied together and technology added for integration with management
systems, orchestration software, hypervisor management products and
networking protocols. Forrester recommends that companies prepare for
industry adoption of SDN by starting training for IT staff in 2013.
3. In-Memory Computing
While watching carefully developments in SDN, many
companies are expected to take in-memory computing to the mainstream,
with the help of vendors such as SAP and Oracle, Gartner says.
"Numerous vendors will deliver in-memory-based solutions over the next
two years driving this approach into mainstream use." As the name
implies, in-memory computing brings data sets closer to computational
engines, replacing the much slower architecture that involves pulling
information from a database in a separate server. This opens up the
possibility of real-time or near real-time results from transactional
and analytical applications running against the same in-memory dataset. A
mouthful to be sure, but the process could mean big advancements in how
fast companies can analyze and act up on the data they gather.
4. Social Technologies Drives Enteprise Collaboration
In the front office, employees' use of social networks,
such as Facebook and Twitter, is driving companies to build their own
enterprise social networks to give workers secure areas for
collaboration and sharing data. In 2013, IDC predicts these networks will move beyond the pilot stage and into production.
Gartner sees a similar trend
with enterprise app stores for smartphones and tablets. Faced with
vendors limiting stores to specific devices, companies will deliver
private application stores to workers by 2014. This will avoid the
multiple payment processes and licensing terms that would come from
using public stores from vendors.
5. Windows 8 Doesn't Get Traction
On the desktop, Microsoft is not expected to win big in the enterprise with Windows 8 until well after 2013 - if ever. Gartner says
90% of corporations will skip large-scale deployment of the latest
version of the operating system through 2015. Most enterprises and their
PC management vendors are not ready to deal with the touch interface
Microsoft has added to its flagship product. As a result, companies will
wait until support for the dramatic OS change becomes widespread in the
business technology market.
6. Gamification Wins
Finally, techniques used in building addiction to playing
online games will get adopted to boost worker productivity. Measurement
of performance, feedback and incentives will be used to engage employees
and tie their actions more closely to business outcomes, Gartner says.
The worldwide market for gamification technology and services will rise
from $242 million this year to $2.8 billion in 2016. Within three
years, 40% of the Global 1000 companies will use gaming techniques, a
process called gamification, to improve performance and efficiency of
their business operations.
http://readwrite.com/2012/12/21/six-tech-trends-that-will-rock-enterprise-it-in-2013
2012년 12월 21일 금요일
nfographic: Evolution of Text Messaging on Mobile Phones
http://dailytekk.com/2012/12/18/infographic-evolution-of-text-messaging-on-mobile-phones/
The evolution of text messaging dates back to pictographs and bird delivery systems, but it can be directly related to the Finnish innovator Matti Makkonen. In 1984 Makkonen revolutionized the way communication is realized for human beings with the SMS for cell phones. Find out why texting has become more popular than talking with teens, and how SMS messages have evolved from 1984. This infographic will reveal interesting statistics and facts that few people know.
The evolution of text messaging dates back to pictographs and bird delivery systems, but it can be directly related to the Finnish innovator Matti Makkonen. In 1984 Makkonen revolutionized the way communication is realized for human beings with the SMS for cell phones. Find out why texting has become more popular than talking with teens, and how SMS messages have evolved from 1984. This infographic will reveal interesting statistics and facts that few people know.
Facebook plans to add TV-like commercials to News Feed | VentureBeat
Facebook plans to add TV-like commercials to News Feed | VentureBeat
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/18/facebook-video-ads/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/18/facebook-video-ads/
The DeanBeat: The accelerated change of the game industry | VentureBeat
The DeanBeat: The accelerated change of the game industry | VentureBeat
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/14/the-deanbeat-the-accelerated-change-of-the-game-industry/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/14/the-deanbeat-the-accelerated-change-of-the-game-industry/
Top Holiday Trends Of 2012, According To Social Media [Infographic]
Top Holiday Trends Of 2012, According To Social Media [Infographic]
http://socialtimes.com/holiday-trends-2012-infographic_b113889
http://socialtimes.com/holiday-trends-2012-infographic_b113889
Twitter Users Can Finally Download and Save All Their Tweets
Twitter Users Can Finally Download and Save All Their Tweets
http://socialtimes.com/twitter-users-can-finally-download-and-save-all-their-tweets_b113910
http://socialtimes.com/twitter-users-can-finally-download-and-save-all-their-tweets_b113910
What Developers Need to Know About Instagram’s Policy Changes
What Developers Need to Know About Instagram’s Policy Changes
http://socialtimes.com/what-developers-need-to-know-about-instagrams-policy-changes_b113845
http://socialtimes.com/what-developers-need-to-know-about-instagrams-policy-changes_b113845
Adobe Adds Designer Network Behance to its Portfolio
Adobe Adds Designer Network Behance to its Portfolio
http://socialtimes.com/adobe-snaps-up-designer-network-behance_b114122#.UNSXTNovDGE.blogger
http://socialtimes.com/adobe-snaps-up-designer-network-behance_b114122#.UNSXTNovDGE.blogger
2012년 12월 10일 월요일
Why Facebook will have trouble killing the text message
Facebook's new Messenger app is only available in a few countries but will soon roll out to the United States and elsewhere.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Facebook is rolling out a new version of its Messenger app for Android
- App only requires a name and a phone number, not an actual Facebook account, to sign up
- Some bloggers see the new Messenger app as an assault on the lowly text message
- But standard SMS has a lot going for it and will likely weather all kinds of challenges
Although the new Facebook
Messenger app is only available in a handful of countries for
now--Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela--it will
eventually roll out to the United States and elsewhere, allowing users
to chat with their phone contacts even if they're not using Facebook.
This news has set the tech world atwitter with proclamations that the new Messenger is an assault on the lowly text message (including one such proclamation from Facebook itself).
It's a nice thought, at
least. Given that a single text to your neighbor can cost more than a
data transmission from Mars, who wouldn't relish the idea of wireless
carriers getting their comeuppance? In reality, though, standard SMS has
a lot going for it, and will likely weather all kinds of assaults,
especially one from Facebook.
OMG! Texting turns 20
Facebook's quarter in review
Church: Go forth and tweet
For one thing, Facebook
Messenger faces the same adoption hurdle as other Internet-based
messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber: It requires a conscious decision
not to use traditional SMS.
With Facebook Messenger,
you must first consider whether the recipient has Facebook installed,
and is set up to receive notifications for new messages. Then, you must
commit to using the Messenger app instead of your phone's built-in SMS
functionality. Once you do that, the conversation is locked into
Facebook unless you have one of the select Android phones that can integrate regular text messages.
That's a lot to consider
compared to the standard SMS, which is guaranteed to reach and alert the
recipient as long as you have the right phone number. To truly threaten
the text message, Facebook Messenger needs the kind of tight smartphone
integration found in Apple's iMessage, which automatically replaces
standard text messages between any two iPhone users. That's not really
possible unless Facebook starts making its own smartphones.
In lieu of tighter
smartphone integration, Facebook simply has to compete with similar
services that are already well-established. As Boy Genius Report points out,
competitor WhatsApp is already a Top 5 messaging app in 141 countries
and handles 10 billion messages per day. (Compare that to 7.8 trillion
regular text messages sent in 2011, according to Portio Research,
for an average of 21 billion messages per day.) Competition is good,
but in this case it means users will be fragmented across multiple
services that can't talk to one another.
Ideally, these competing
services would somehow find a way to work with each other, so a Facebook
user could send a message to someone who uses Whatsapp or Viber. It
sounds crazy, but considering that wireless carriers found a way to make
it work with SMS, tech companies should be able to figure out a
solution.
I acknowledge that the
need for SMS alternatives is more desperate outside the United States,
where the price per message can be cost-prohibitive. But in the land of
all-you-can-eat messaging, if you really need to reach someone, SMS
remains the most reliable option, and Facebook Messenger only poses a
minor threat.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/05/tech/social-media/facebook-messenger/index.html
The Future of Social Media in 2013: Six Points to Consider
As we round the bend to the end of another term of learning and applying the principles of social media marketing, I wonder what 2013 will bring to the social media world. I have spoken to my classes about the history of Marketing, the emergence of social media, and how we utilize social platforms and tools for B2C and B2B.
But, now we need to consider what new tools, processes, trends, and
gaps could appear as social media becomes more pervasive, effective, and
required in business.
In the future, I think we will see a further evolution of how we
produce and consume marketing messages as well an increase in the value
of information produced via social (for business and consumers). Some
points to consider:
Tribes
I believe the future of social media can be seen by looking to
the past. Humans by nature are social creatures, however we have spent
years relying on mass media. As time has passed, we are now relying
less on mass media and more on our peers: we are once again turning to
one another. Consider your friends on Facebook or those you follow on
Twitter. Via social, I have surrounded myself with like minded people
that I can have a symbiotic relationship with. Many of the folks I
follow on Twitter I follow because I can learn from them and I value the
content they produce.
Relevancy
Relevant connections, content, and communications will remain
increasingly important in order to cancel out the “noise”. As consumers
continue to be bombarded with tweets, status updates, mobile marketing
messages and the like, it will be paramount for these communications to
be relevant, timely, and personalized. This is true for the business as
well. I see the future of social including smaller more niche social
groups organized by brands to further identify consumer needs, research,
and for crowdsourcing purposes.
If your business is on a social platform and engaging, good for you.
If you are not utilizing it to facilitate customer service, shame on
you. Obviously, this will take some planning on your part to prepare
staff and get processes in place for customer service inquiries.
Nevertheless, the benefits far outweigh the costs in this situation.
Consider the company who is “on Twitter” and ignores customer inquiries
made via tweets. This is the equivalent of having a customer at your
business, asking you a question (with a store full of other customers
and potential customers) while you stand there not listening with your
hands covering your ears. Potentially disastrous in real life; it would
be online as well.
SoMo
By far the biggest and most exciting area of social will most likely
be SoMo (social mobile). Mobile phones have become an every day item
that are utilized multiple times throughout the day. Smartphones hold
more information on the user than ever before; we rely on them to remind
us of doctors appointments, to take and store photos, to stay in
contact with our friends and family, to do searches, and to sometimes
even make phone calls. New and exciting possibilities abound
surrounding smart phones and equipping them to better know the user,
anticipate needs, and meet those needs. However, with more people using
smart phones as their primary tool for Internet searches, businesses
will need to make changes to webpages and more to accommodate slower
connections and/or smaller screens.
Integration
Mass media and social media will become more integrated across
devices (such as laptop, tablets, smart phones) and platforms (such as
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) to offer more relevant and personalized
experiences. Similarly, we will also see further integration with
local and SoMo: SoLoMo. Consumers will utilize social media via mobile technology to include point of purchase and point of consumption.
The Future
The future of social media is my students, myself, and you….
Each of my students (and you the reader) have created personal
digital brands via blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and/or
Pinterest. As we all leave our digital footprints, we are not only
representing ourselves, we are representing the brands we work for and
the brands we ‘talk’ about via social. Likewise, the individuals that
make up brands are creating engaged company personas with both
personality and transparency. These folks are the future of social
media.
Individuals will shape the future of social media. What steps are you taking to do the most good with your digital footprint!?
The views expressed are those of the author, and do not represent those of Texas A&M University-Commerce or Southern New Hampshire University unless stated explicitly.
2012년 12월 5일 수요일
2012년 12월 4일 화요일
Chapter 12. Manage Conflict - Interpersonal Communication
Chapter
12. Manage Conflict
4 December 2012
Conflict
is an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties. All conflicts
possess the same characteristics of perceived incompatible goals, expressed
struggle, perceived scarce rewards, interdependence, and inevitability.
Conflicts
can be constructive, yet most people view conflict as something to be avoided
whenever possible.
Communication
scholars usually describe harmful conflicts as dysfunctional and beneficial
ones as functional.
In
dysfunctional conflicts, outcomes fall short and have damaging effects on the
relationship, and functional conflicts achieve the best possible outcomes even
possibly strengthening the relationship. This dichotomy forms various sub-dichotomies:
Integration
versus polarization, cooperation versus opposition, confirmation versus
disconfirmation, agreement versus coercion, de-escalation versus escalation,
foresight versus shortsightedness, focusing versus drifting, positive versus
negative results.
Default
styles of handling conflict are characteristic approaches people take when
their needs appear incompatible with what others want.
Conflict
styles include avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and
collaboration.
Avoidance
occurs when people nonassertively ignore or stay away from conflict. Avoidance can
be physical or conversational, and reflects a pessimistic attitude about
conflict.
Accommodation
occurs when we allow others to have their own way rather than asserting our own
point-of-view.
Competition
is a win-lose approach to conflict that involves high self concern, and low
concern for others.
Compromise
gives both people at least some of what they want although both sacrifice part
of their goals. Some compromises leave everyone satisfied.
Collaboration
seeks win-win solutions to conflict in which the goal is to find a solution
that satisfies the needs of everyone involved. It is often the ideal outcome.
Passive
aggression occurs when a communicator expresses dissatisfaction in a disguised
manner, whereas, direct aggressors lash out to attack the source of
displeasure.
In
determining the best style to use when resolving conflict, consider: the
situation, the other person(s) involved, and your own goals.
When
two or more people are in a long-term relationship, they develop their own
relational conflict style which is a pattern of managing disagreements that
repeats itself over a matter of time.
3
styles to manage conflicts include: complimentary conflict style, symmetrical
conflict style, and parallel conflict style.
Another
way to examine conflict styles is to examine the interaction between emotional
closeness and aggression which can include: Nonintimate-aggressive,
Intimate-aggressive, Nonintimate-nonaggressive, Intimate-nonagressive.
When
people have been in a relationship for some time, their communication often
develops into conflict rituals which are unacknowledged, yet real repeating
patterns of interlocking behavior.
Conflict
management in practice requires that you define your needs, share your needs
with the other person(s), listen to the others’ needs, generate possible
solutions, evaluate the solution options and choose the best one, implement the
solution, and follow-up/reinforce the solution.
Survey: Smartphones are for singles, tablets for couples
A couple in Mumbai, India, checks out the iPad 2 at an Apple reseller in 2011.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Survey: Singles are more likely to own smartphones, couples to have tablets
- Difference may be because married folks are usually older, more financially secure
- The survey sampled 2,006 adults in the United States
Whatever the reasons, a
new survey suggests that married couples are more likely to own a
tablet, while smartphones are more popular with unhitched folks.
The Search Agency, a digital marketing company, recently released its 2012 Online User Behavior and Engagement Study (PDF), created with the help of market research firm Harris Interactive.
In it, 49% of single
respondents said they own a smartphone, compared with only 43% of
married people. Meanwhile, 45% of people who have said "I do" reported
owning a tablet, compared with 36% of singles.
Search Agency Vice
President Mike Solomon said that differences in the ages of single and
married respondents may have played a bigger role than specific habits.
"For many of the
findings, percentages zigzagged between age groups, rather than plotting
a consistent bell curve -- indicating how factors such as generational
differences, disposable income, and the influence of children on their
parents impact results," Solomon said in a written statement.
"Married people are often
older, have more disposable income and can more easily justify
superfluous pieces of technology, such as tablets. At the same time,
baby boomers are often more tech-literate than their slightly younger
counterparts -- likely because their millennial children are pushing
them to use new tools and devices."
The survey of 2,006 U.S. adults was conducted online between August 14 and 16.
It provides some other interesting glimpses into what could be called the mobile revolution that has taken over the computing world.
For example, 59% of
smartphone owners said they had launched a Web search on their mobile
phones when they were sitting within arm's reach of a desktop or laptop
-- a number that jumps to 74% for younger users, age 18-34.
And 66% of tablet owners
said they've quickly jumped onto their iPad, Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 or
other gadget to get more information about products they see on TV.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/29/tech/mobile/smartphones-tablets-singles-couples/index.html
2012년 12월 3일 월요일
Facebook Mobile Use May Be Near Its Saturation Point In The United States
Between PCs and mobile devices, Americans spent 121 billion minutes on social media in July 2012, an increase of 37% (88 billion minutes).
More people than ever are using Facebook’s native apps to access the site, including 78.4 million Americans alone. Native-app use for Facebook eclipsed the mobile Web, which had 74.3 million users.
If you add those groups together, the aggregate of mobile users topped those using a PC to access Facebook by almost half a million people. In the United States, 152 million people accessed Facebook from their PCs against 152.7 million through either native apps or the mobile Web.
Granted, there is likely some overlap accessing Facebook on both the mobile Web and native apps, but mobile and PC use of the social network is fairly even in the Unites States. It's also apparent that most people who use Facebook on a PC are also likely to do so on a mobile device.
We have watched all types of mobile use explode in 2012. In the United States, we have hit an inflection point where most people will be accessing the Internet primarily through their smartphones and tablets. The question becomes how much more can social-media companies like Facebook or Twitter grow on mobile?
Mobile-analytics company Flurry reports that there are 181 million iOS and Android smartphones active in the United States. Conservatively, iOS and Android make up 85% of the domestic smartphone market. From there, we can extrapolate that there are about 208 million smartphone owners in the country. Facebook can now claim 73% (at most) of those people as their mobile customers. What that means for Facebook is that it has likely hit near-saturation in the number of moble owners it can acquire.
Member acquisition, on PC or mobile, has never really been a problem for Facebook. Nor has been getting members to spend time on the site. Facebook is built to get people to use it, and they do. A lot. Facebook saw native-app users spend nearly 27 minutes a month on the site, a 61% increase over the same period in 2011.
Facebook’s problem is making money off those mobile people. This became apparent when the company filed its S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to its initial public offering in February.
The biggest risk Facebook owners said they faced in sustaining growth and financial health was their ability to turn mobile members into dollars. As such, Facebook has launched a variety of ads on mobile, such as sponsored stories and ads that appear in member newsfeeds.
Facebook is a very quick and iterative company when it comes to building new products, and it always has dozens of small teams working on projects that can advance both its utility as well as its monetization features. If consumer use trends in 2012 have taught Facebook anything, it is that it should ramp up the output of these teams to take advantage of the shift from PC to mobile devices.
Other social networks have seen a spike in mobile usage in 2012, according to Nielsen. For instance, Twitter sees more users from the mobile Web (42 million) than it does via PC (37 million) in the U.S. Twitter received 22.620 visitors through its native apps. Burgeoning social-network Pinterest saw the biggest growth rate of the year on any platform, with 14 million users through the mobile Web, a 4,225% increase year over year from 2011.
Pinterest had 27 million members on PCs, a 1,047% growth rate. See the Nielsen chart below for overall mobile-Web and native-app use across all social-networking sites in the U.S.
While Facebook may be near its saturation point, there is still a fair amount of room left for companies like Twitter, Pinterest and Foursquare to cultivate mobile members. Facebook has set the standard for the social-mobile industry, now it is up to the competition to match it.
http://readwrite.com/2012/12/03/mobile-social-media-use-is-nearly-saturated-in-the-united-states
3 Trends to Consider for Your 2013 Social Video Strategy
By Jayson Duncan
Even though the buzz about the effectiveness of online video has continued to increase, the number of companies taking advantage of the opportunities that online video provides is still not as big as I would expect. From what I’ve experience this past year, the main reason seems to be the cost. While Twitter and Facebook can be entered into with little to no cost, online video has a price of admission no matter how you go about creating the content. For instance, the cost could be the price of the camera you buy to do it yourself, or it could be the cost of hiring a production company to create a professional video for you.
Even for those “do it yourself” types who already happen to own a camera, there is still the cost of the time that must be invested to create your video. I have heard from many people who chose to record their own video, but got stuck in the complexities of the editing process and needed help figuring out how to finish it. I also received many calls this year from companies that chose the cheapest route possible for creating a video and were not satisfied with their end result.
Planning Ahead
As you plan for your company’s 2013 online video strategy, whether you intend to do it yourself or hire a production company, the following three noteworthy trends from 2012 are worth considering.
Noteworthy Trend #1: Product Video. The challenge of online sales is that customers have to trust the photos that are on the site to get a sense of what they are purchasing. Video can take your product one step further, giving it dimension and providing potential customers an idea of how the product looks and performs in the real world. Online retailers like Amazon, as well as brick-and-mortar retailers with an online presence, continue to add video to their websites to enhance user experience and increase sales. Savvy online retailers know the importance of embedding their videos into the product pages; embedded videos receive a higher view rate than videos that are a link or an icon.
Noteworthy Trend #2: Content Video. While deployment of content videos is on the rise, the cost involved in producing content videos creates a large hurdle for many companies. Goviral.com has developed a list of Top 100 brands in social video. It is important to note that these 100 companies are not necessarily the companies with the most content; however, they have focused on quality content that is loyal to the brand message and reaches their target audience. (Notice that Red Bull is number one on the list.) What I love about this is it challenges brands to be creative and move beyond the poor flip cam videos we have seen in the past.
Noteworthy Trend #3: Long-Form Video. Long-form video has been gaining in popularity, though there remains some debate as to what actually constitutes long-form content. The widely accepted view, and one I share, is that any video over ten minutes can be considered long-form content. Long-form video is best suited for advertising, and it plays well into YouTube’s new way of ranking videos by the amount of time spent watching the video. What does this mean for companies? Since longer video is best suited for advertising, it is an opportunity to get your company in front of more targeted viewers. Just remember, this isn’t a license to create long, boring content. If anything, it is a call to action to be strategic in the way you advertise and the way you create content.
What is your company’s 2013 online video strategy?
http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/12/03/3-trends-2013-social-video-strategy/
Even though the buzz about the effectiveness of online video has continued to increase, the number of companies taking advantage of the opportunities that online video provides is still not as big as I would expect. From what I’ve experience this past year, the main reason seems to be the cost. While Twitter and Facebook can be entered into with little to no cost, online video has a price of admission no matter how you go about creating the content. For instance, the cost could be the price of the camera you buy to do it yourself, or it could be the cost of hiring a production company to create a professional video for you.
Even for those “do it yourself” types who already happen to own a camera, there is still the cost of the time that must be invested to create your video. I have heard from many people who chose to record their own video, but got stuck in the complexities of the editing process and needed help figuring out how to finish it. I also received many calls this year from companies that chose the cheapest route possible for creating a video and were not satisfied with their end result.
Planning Ahead
As you plan for your company’s 2013 online video strategy, whether you intend to do it yourself or hire a production company, the following three noteworthy trends from 2012 are worth considering.
Noteworthy Trend #1: Product Video. The challenge of online sales is that customers have to trust the photos that are on the site to get a sense of what they are purchasing. Video can take your product one step further, giving it dimension and providing potential customers an idea of how the product looks and performs in the real world. Online retailers like Amazon, as well as brick-and-mortar retailers with an online presence, continue to add video to their websites to enhance user experience and increase sales. Savvy online retailers know the importance of embedding their videos into the product pages; embedded videos receive a higher view rate than videos that are a link or an icon.
Noteworthy Trend #2: Content Video. While deployment of content videos is on the rise, the cost involved in producing content videos creates a large hurdle for many companies. Goviral.com has developed a list of Top 100 brands in social video. It is important to note that these 100 companies are not necessarily the companies with the most content; however, they have focused on quality content that is loyal to the brand message and reaches their target audience. (Notice that Red Bull is number one on the list.) What I love about this is it challenges brands to be creative and move beyond the poor flip cam videos we have seen in the past.
Noteworthy Trend #3: Long-Form Video. Long-form video has been gaining in popularity, though there remains some debate as to what actually constitutes long-form content. The widely accepted view, and one I share, is that any video over ten minutes can be considered long-form content. Long-form video is best suited for advertising, and it plays well into YouTube’s new way of ranking videos by the amount of time spent watching the video. What does this mean for companies? Since longer video is best suited for advertising, it is an opportunity to get your company in front of more targeted viewers. Just remember, this isn’t a license to create long, boring content. If anything, it is a call to action to be strategic in the way you advertise and the way you create content.
What is your company’s 2013 online video strategy?
http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/12/03/3-trends-2013-social-video-strategy/
2012년 11월 30일 금요일
Social Influence Marketing : A New Science To Develop!
By Raymond Morin
Social Influence Marketing : A New Science to Develop!
Since 2009 and the lightening-speed emergence of Klout, the concept of online influence has evolved a lot. The approach used by early adopters has rapidly evolved from being quantitative analysis (like Klout and other currently available online tools) to more qualitative metrics (based more on achievements). Suddenly, the importance of social scores take up much less room in the debate, and interest has immediately turned to the recommendation of ambassadors who represent a greater value for company name brands (see: Social Media Influencers or Social Media Ambassadors : What Is Their True Value ?)However, Klout’s newly modified algorithms will likely affect the score most influencers currently have (and their relationship with the brands). This means we can expect users to play an even more important role in the game.
Six Major Social Influence Marketing Trends
The science of influence marketing in social media continues to evolve. And observers’ attention is now turning towards new metrics, focusing more on the actual values of influence such as commitment and user confidence. In a recent post on BusinessesGrow.com: Six Hot Trends In Social Influence Marketing , Mark Schaefer describes six major social media trends:
1 – The notion of influence in social media
is finally emerging from the experimental stages, and is becoming
progressively more prominent in the various marketing agencies’ campaign
budgets.
2 — Social influence is hitting the streets – small businesses and
merchants are finally benefiting from programs that reward established
loyalty (through perks) put in place by measurement tools.3 – Influence marketing is still a new science, but it will become an increasing concern for professionals who will continue to discuss and share the best practices.
4 – Measurement tools tend to further integrate recommendations from peers among their metrics and are still seeking a way to get these online interactions and exchanges in order to convert the consumer
5 – New measurement tools (such as Appinions from Cornell University) now put social media influence into context and are evolving towards the metric analysis of user sentiment.
6 – More and more companies are currently integrating measures of
influence internally by compensating employees who are best at being
brand ambassadors (such as PepsiCo.)
These six major tendencies have been observed by expert, as Mark
Schaefer, as within the industry. They effectively illustrate how
influence marketing will become an increasingly important strategy for
brands and agencies.Eight Ways to (Re)gain Generation C’s trust
Nevertheless, when examining social media’s current context, it’s important to closely monitor the growing impact on the new online consumer that is Generation C. (Read: Social Media Influence : Understanding The New Generation C)
Cheerfully enjoying the tremendous viral power of their recommendations and their ability to impose new economic rules, Generation C users now require new, more social rather than commercial approaches to marketing. In some ways, they reveal themselves as the true social media influencers.
Currently, in order to engage these social consumers businesses and traders need to gain (or regain) their trust. In an infographic relayed by @DR4WARD (Dr. William J. Ward) in his blog, Mark Smiciklas (Intersection1, Vancouver) recalls the eight essential steps to build (or rebuild) trust within one’s network (The Path of Building Online Trust – 8 Steps to Build Social and Online Trust):
1 – Communicate honestly and freely admit your errors.
2 – Never use the personal information provided by your contacts.
3 – Never break a commitment.
4 – Make sure you respond quickly to every situation.
5 – Show integrity through your approach.
6 – Demonstrate high ethical standards through your marketing.
7 – Adopt a charter that is open and transparent.
8 – Create history of positive interactions over time.
These are the eight simple but unavoidable steps that business owners will have to learn to implement in order to (re)gain consumer trust online.
http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/08/28/social-influence-marketing-a-new-science-to-develop/
Mobile app downloads surged 33 percent after iPhone 5 launch
The drop in the cost of acquiring new loyal app users should be welcomed by developers, who worry that marketing costs may eat away at the profits that they get from free-to-play mobile games, where users play for free and pay real money for virtual goods.
Fiksu said that the cost to acquire a loyal app user fell 6 percent in October to $1.06, down from $1.13 in September. That coincided with increases in searches and app discovery. The Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, which measures the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps, rose to 5.4 million daily downloads in October, up 33 percent from September. The Index saw a similar gain following the availability of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, when traffic also surged by a proportional 29 percent.
“October was a month of opportunity for mobile app marketers,” said Micah Adler, CEO, Fiksu. “Organic searches soared as users around the world actively explored the App Store searching out new apps for their new iPhones. This heightened period of organic discovery – coupled with peak download volumes – drove down the cost of loyal user acquisition. Some savvy marketers chose to ride this wave without substantially increasing their advertising spending.”
The Fiksu Indexes measure monthly fluctuations in competition for rank in the Apple App Store and the cost to acquire loyal users, helping mobile app marketers benchmark their performance against industry trends. Fiksu has measured more than 55.6 billion app actions such as game launches or user registrations to date.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/30/mobile-app-downloads-surged-33-percent-after-iphone-5-launch/
2012년 11월 29일 목요일
2012년 11월 28일 수요일
5 “Must Have’s” in any So(Social) Mo(Mobile) Lo(Local) Strategy
Having a SoMoLo marketing strategy makes it easy for consumers to find anything related to your business.
Identifying that sweet spot and crafting seamless messages across these three venues requires an integrated mindset, and a land of opportunity exists for those who adapt and embrace the new way of thinking. I talk about this in more detail in What is SoMoLo and Why is It So Important to Marketers; it’s my first post on the SoMoLo topic and I will have a lot more to say in the future.
Knowing the elements that are non-negotiable in a SoMoLo strategy is part of getting there. So here, I outline 5 essential elements in every SoMoLo strategy.
5 Must-Have’s in any SoMoLo Strategy:
1. CONSUMER INSIGHT—Developing a successful SoMoLo strategy requires you to become an expert in consumer search behavior.
Becoming aware of consumers’ search behavior will enable you to craft
targeted content so you’ll increase relevance and convert leads more
efficiently.
Searching is the primary activity of mobile consumers. Based on research, consumers are using search to:- Research before they purchase (57% smartphone, 66% Tablet)
- Locate stores (73% smartphone, 42% Tablet)
- Check prices (62% smartphone, 52% Tablet)
- Read reviews of recent/future purchases (45% smartphone, 56% Tablet)
- For example, where are consumers and what are they doing while they are seeking the information? Are they in your store looking at products? Or are they in their car trying to find your location? Adapt content appropriately to each channel; don’t just edit the same copy so it will fit each channel. Focus on helping instead of just selling.
2. ABILITY TO RELINQUISH CONTROL (i.e. GIVE CONSUMERS CONTROL)
Consumers expect transparency, control and customization. (Source: Deloitte 2012 Retail Study)
You may be wondering how giving consumers control helps you;
but think of it this way: like it or not, consumers are in the driver’s seat in today’s marketplace. If you don’t empower them, you’ll likely never be able to convert them.Today’s empowered consumers easily move from one channel to the next effortlessly. Often they will start a transaction on one channel then move to another; perhaps several more before they make a decision to purchase.
Some studies have found that 65% of consumers initiate a purchase on a smartphone then 61% move to a personal computer.
Action-oriented SoMoLo Marketers can give consumers control through numerous response options to this multi-channel consumer behavior. For example:
- Offer consumers different cross channel options.
- Allow them to interact with your brand based on their convenience.
- If you have physical locations, consider providing wifi access.
- Make sure physical locations have printed materials that indicate other online options.
3. CONVENIENCE
Consumers are looking for choice, convenience and control; and they expect each of these on their terms.
One implication of implementing a SoMoLo marketing strategy is that you must make it easy for consumers to find anything related to your business. For example:
- Locations and hours
- Content
- Answers to their questions
- Deals
Search engines and Location Based Services are excellent resources for owners and managers willing to invest in the resources needed to take advantage of these. To get started:
- First, optimize your online assets using the key terms consumers use to find whatever it is you do.
- Next, optimize content that is hosted on these assets. Search engine optimization is technical and usually requires the help of a professional.
Simplify, often less is more. Only collect information you intend to use to create a more relevant experience.
4. LISTENING SKILLS
Pay attention to what consumers are saying about you, your product or service category, your competitors, and your community. Decide what you can realistically follow and then create a system that will facilitate keeping track of the conversations.
There are paid and free software programs designed to help filter out a great deal of the noise so you can follow the conversations you care about. Social Mention , Howsociable and Google Alerts are a few of the more popular free tools. Any listening tool will require hands-on review and analysis.
When appropriate, respond to comments or concerns; however, don’t be too defensive if you decide to try and resolve a problem or correct misinformation. Acknowledging compliments is a nice way to show that someone is paying attention. Use this feedback to improve service, solve problems and reinforce positive behavior and when fitting, deepen relationships with customers.
5. LOCAL ADVANTAGE
74% of smartphone owners surveyed cited looking up local services as a leading activity they associate with their smartphone. (Source: Keystone)
According to Pew research, 65 million Americans use mobile or location based services, and the numbers are increasing. You may have heard of the term hyper-local. Consumers are interested in exploring local options. Location based services like Foursquare allow consumers to check in to specific locations telling their social network about their experience.
Check-in behavior allows consumers to find deals, evaluate services or products and share their experiences with others. Often these platforms are connected to other popular social media platforms, like Facebook, for example.
In addition to optimizing your marketing assets, claim your local place. There are resources that make this process pretty simple and doing this will ensure your content shows up in local search results.
If you already offer coupons, discounts or premiums, consider tailoring an offer to draw in local customers or reward loyal behavior.
Are you harnessing the power of SoMoLo?
Being aware of the essential elements of a SoMoLo strategy is the first step to achieving success. Consumer insight, ability to relinquish control, convenience, listening skills and local advantage all have a common thread: they each put the consumer at the center. Without a customer-centric focus, a SoMoLo strategy will never flourish. Conversely, keeping your customer at the center and honing these 5 essential traits will springboard your business. In which of these areas do you need to focus?http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/11/27/5-must-haves-in-any-sosocial-momobile-lolocal-strategy/
2012년 11월 27일 화요일
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers - Writing
Dangling and misplaced modifiers are discussed at length in usage
guides partly because they are very common and partly because there are
many different kinds of them. But it is not necessary to understand the
grammatical details involved to grasp the basic principle: words or
phrases which modify some other word or phrase in a sentence should be
clearly, firmly joined to them and not dangle off forlornly on their
own.
Sometimes the dangling phrase is simply too far removed from the word it modifies, as in “Sizzling on the grill, Theo smelled the Copper River salmon.” This makes it sound like Theo is being barbecued, because his name is the nearest noun to “sizzling on the grill.” We need to move the dangling modifier closer to the word it really modifies: “salmon.” “Theo smelled the Copper River salmon sizzling on the grill.”
Sometimes it’s not clear which of two possible words a modifier modifies: “Felicia is allergic to raw apples and almonds.” Is she allergic only to raw almonds, or all almonds—even roasted ones? This could be matter of life and death. Here’s a much clearer version: “Felicia is allergic to almonds and raw apples.” “Raw” now clearly modifies only “apples.”
Dangling modifiers involving verbs are especially common and sometimes difficult to spot. For instance, consider this sentence: “Having bought the harpsichord, it now needed tuning.” There is no one mentioned in the sentence who did the buying. One way to fix this is to insert the name of someone and make the two halves of the sentence parallel in form: “Wei Chi, having bought the harpsichord, now needed to tune it.” If you have a person in mind, it is easy to forget the reader needs to be told about that person; but he or she can't be just “understood.”
Here’s another sentence with a dangling modifier, in this case at the end of a sentence: “The retirement party was a disaster, not having realized that Arthur had been jailed the previous week.” There is nobody here doing the realizing. One fix: “The retirement party was a disaster because we had not realized that Arthur had been jailed the previous week.”
Using passive verbs will often trip you up: “In reviewing Gareth’s computer records, hundreds of hours spent playing online games were identified.” This sort of thing looks fine to a lot of people and in fact is common in professional writing, but technically somebody specific needs to be mentioned in the sentence as doing the identifying. Inserting a doer and shifting to the active voice will fix the problem. While we’re at it, let’s make clear that Gareth was doing the playing: “The auditor, in checking Gareth’s computer records, identified hundreds of hours that he had spent playing online games.”
Adverbs like “almost,” “even,” “hardly,” “just,” “only,” and “nearly,” are especially likely to get stuck in the wrong spot in a sentence. “Romeo almost kissed Juliet as soon as he met her” means he didn’t kiss her—he only held her hand. True, but you might want to say something quite different: “Romeo kissed Juliet almost as soon as he met her.” The placement of the modifier is crucial.
Sometimes the dangling phrase is simply too far removed from the word it modifies, as in “Sizzling on the grill, Theo smelled the Copper River salmon.” This makes it sound like Theo is being barbecued, because his name is the nearest noun to “sizzling on the grill.” We need to move the dangling modifier closer to the word it really modifies: “salmon.” “Theo smelled the Copper River salmon sizzling on the grill.”
Sometimes it’s not clear which of two possible words a modifier modifies: “Felicia is allergic to raw apples and almonds.” Is she allergic only to raw almonds, or all almonds—even roasted ones? This could be matter of life and death. Here’s a much clearer version: “Felicia is allergic to almonds and raw apples.” “Raw” now clearly modifies only “apples.”
Dangling modifiers involving verbs are especially common and sometimes difficult to spot. For instance, consider this sentence: “Having bought the harpsichord, it now needed tuning.” There is no one mentioned in the sentence who did the buying. One way to fix this is to insert the name of someone and make the two halves of the sentence parallel in form: “Wei Chi, having bought the harpsichord, now needed to tune it.” If you have a person in mind, it is easy to forget the reader needs to be told about that person; but he or she can't be just “understood.”
Here’s another sentence with a dangling modifier, in this case at the end of a sentence: “The retirement party was a disaster, not having realized that Arthur had been jailed the previous week.” There is nobody here doing the realizing. One fix: “The retirement party was a disaster because we had not realized that Arthur had been jailed the previous week.”
Using passive verbs will often trip you up: “In reviewing Gareth’s computer records, hundreds of hours spent playing online games were identified.” This sort of thing looks fine to a lot of people and in fact is common in professional writing, but technically somebody specific needs to be mentioned in the sentence as doing the identifying. Inserting a doer and shifting to the active voice will fix the problem. While we’re at it, let’s make clear that Gareth was doing the playing: “The auditor, in checking Gareth’s computer records, identified hundreds of hours that he had spent playing online games.”
Adverbs like “almost,” “even,” “hardly,” “just,” “only,” and “nearly,” are especially likely to get stuck in the wrong spot in a sentence. “Romeo almost kissed Juliet as soon as he met her” means he didn’t kiss her—he only held her hand. True, but you might want to say something quite different: “Romeo kissed Juliet almost as soon as he met her.” The placement of the modifier is crucial.
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